Point of fact, even our current regime of law and mindset, which is ostensibly based, at least largely, on Rape=Crime Of Violence, doesn’t really believe the slogan. Already here we’ve heard references to “violation,” mental trauma, self-respect, virginity – all terms that sound very apt for describing something sex-related, but not so apt for mere violence. And that’s because we – society, individuals, everyone – just plain think that sex is different from other things, and that bad things related to sex are worse than bad things not related to sex. Some feminists complained about the feminine mystique – society’s supposed tendency to place women and the feminine on a higher plane of “refinement.” But our current views and laws on rape very much still reflect a feminine mystique, and one that operates in benefit of women, and is not being challenged by feminists; that is, our current laws clearly single out rape as a Very Bad Thing, and provide for serious punishment/social exclusion for engaging in it, not because of its violent nature, but because of its sexual nature. Rape laws simply wouldn’t be as harsh as they are if we didn’t all or most of us have a lingering heightened respect for female virtue/honor/virginity, a lingering sense that women are more in need of protection than men, a lingering sense that women are somehow ineffably “marked” by the stigma/violation of rape in a way that somehow doesn’t happen with other crimes, even violent ones. So women are benefiting from a pretty archaic, quasi-chivalric set of motivations shared by much of society and the law, and I don’t hear feminists complaining, because the overall result (discouraging rape) is quite desireable to most of us. That these chivalric notions, which generally favor women’s anti-rape interests, come with some baggage --i.e., the chevalier’s impulse to make sure that the pure maiden really was pure before galloping off to avenge her deflowering–should not be surprising.
Imagine a world in which rape really is treated as simply a crime of violence. Joe and Mary go to a frat party Friday night. Joe drinks ten beers. So does Mary. Joe’s judgment gets a bit impaired. Mary likewise. Joe approaches big fratboy no. 1 and tells him that the Dekes suck, dude. Mary goes up to fratboy no. 2 and accepts his offer to join him in his room. Fratboy no. 1 punches Joe in the nose, blacks his eye, and gives him a fat lip and chipped tooth. Meanwhile, fratboy no. 2, crazed with lust, um, I mean violence, locks the door behind Mary, carries her to the bed, lies on top of her, and has sex with her – she’s pinned down by his weight while it’s going on, but otherwise, he doesn’t physically strike or manhandle her. At the end of the night, Joe has been struck multiple times and suffered multiple physical injuries that may scar him for awhile. Mary was a bit squashed and may not have enjoyed the sensation of being penetrated, but otherwise, she’s untouched and has no physical scars. In the alternative Rape=Violence world, who gets the more severe prison sentence and merits harsher social condemnation? Clearly, fratboy no. 1; his victim is worse off physically, has suffered more tangible effects of the violence, and has had greater, more prolonged, and more intensive violation of his right to be free from physical harm. Legally, I’d expect fratboy no. 1 is up against multiple counts of aggravated battery, whereas fratboy 2 is on the hook for false imprisonment and one simple battery (I say simple because it didn’t cause lasting physical harm). “Ah, but rape would be aggravated battery, because that kind of intrusion on your physical space is particularly violating.” Right, but that’s true only if some parts of our body are even less okay for strangers to touch/assail than others – which wouldn’t be true in a rape=violence only world, but eminently would be true in a rape=crime of sex/shame/violation world.
Like the one we live in. In which fratboy 1 would, likely as not, not even be charged, or if charged, might well be treated as just a drunken brawler and not a violent predator and fratboy no. 2 would stand a good chance of facing serious rape charges. Because . . . rape is just different from “crimes of violence” despite the coincidence that rape sometimes, though not always, involves a degree of physical violence. I don’t see society changing its viewpoint on this “just different” approach, which is clearly tied to the sexual nature of rape, and I don’t think even feminists, no matter what awkwardly expressed “rape=violence” credo some of them may be stuck voicing, would really want this change to occur.